DAY 1:
The single sculls.
Holy Moly. How amazing is that course? I mean I had seen a few photies of it before but watching it on the box just puts into perspective of how absolutely mint it is.
The 1st heat was dominated by the big Cuban, who expectedly cruised through to beat Mexico in 2nd and India in 3rd. India!!!!!!! Flip- that oke. Only started rowing after watching rowing at the 2012 London Olympics! Now he is coming 3rd in Olympic heats! Wild. Just wild. That’s a testament to everyone if you have a dream…..Live it. Work your nuts off, put the time and and who knows…. You might be sitting at the next Olympic start….
2nd heat? Mahe……..Just Mahe…Obviiiiaaaaassss. Dominating from the beginning. Cose to 6-7 lengths ahead at the 1000 , the oke is getting some anger out after getting dominated in the Silver Sculls at Henley a few months before.
3rd Heat…Back to Silver Sculls….Obbbbrrrreeeeennnoooo. Hanness Obreno, the legend who unexpectedly beat Mahe Drysdale at Henley earlier this year took the heat. With such a crisp and technique its not surprising he will be aiming to be up there in the A final.
4th Heat. Andy Peebs from Zim and part of our very own SA Squad system did Zim and SA very proud! After a long journey to qualify for the Olympics and suffering a slight back injury, a month or so prior to the race, it was great to see him thundering down the course! The old Rhodes watsapp groups were going crazy and loving seeing him don his old worn, crusty Rhodes cap on the Olympic Course! What a legend!
5th Heat: By this stage the middle thousand had turned into a washing machine as conditions turned for the worse. Ondrej Synk was the clear favourate for the and rowed smartly though the challenging conditions to take the heat!
6th Heat: Damir martin was the favorite but the the HOFF stole the show. The field was close for the 1st 1000. The Big Croatian chap was up and displayed some skillful sculling in some horrendous conditions. He was challenged by the Norwegian who slowly crept his way up as the conditions got worse. It was a dogfight from the 1500m onwards with the Norwegian hanging in to stay ahead of the favorite and just shows you not only need power and grit but good blade work to handle tough conditions. Upset of the day but not really a true upset I suppose due to the conditions.
Women’s Heat:
Heat 1: What an upset! The little Mexican powerhouse Kenia Lechuga Alanis
stole the show with that killer backswing, acceleration and leg drive that seemed to take it away from Aussie World Champ, Kim Brennan! But the true champion of that race was non other than our own Zimbo , Mouse Thorneycroft who finished second to automatically qualify for the Semi’s! Great show mouse, we are all super proud!
The South African Mens Pair of Shaun Keeling and and Lawrence Brittain also powered through the tough conditions to finish a great second place behind the Aussies. They had a fantastic start and lead through the 1st 600-700m before the conditions got the better of them, but the quality of this crew was pretty clear and we can see them, at this stage, going through all the way to the A final!
Moments of the day: Andy Peebs and his classic cap! Mouse beating the current world champ! Its about Marbo! Its about the Vibe! And Peebs and Mouse would agree!
Some times an old crusty cap shows all the character one needs....True to his colours. Go Peebs!
